


Sapphire Schemes

by niteynyx



Series: Nitey's Commissions [6]
Category: Fire Emblem, Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Claude von Riegan is a Little Shit, Dom/sub, F/F, Fluff and Smut, Light Dom/sub, Oral Sex, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Vaginal Fingering, thrist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:41:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26288200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/niteynyx/pseuds/niteynyx
Summary: This story begins and ends with Edelgard punting Claude into Garreg Mach’s pond. Between here and there, he plays matchmaker for Princess Edelguard and Professor f!Byleth. Anonymous commission.
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Series: Nitey's Commissions [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1896736
Comments: 4
Kudos: 54





	Sapphire Schemes

The future Duke of House Riegan was always smiling, his carefree attitude serving as a perfect cover for his constant machinations and manipulations. Of course he was smiling the morning after his victory, enjoying its afterglow as he stood on the pier with his fishing rod cast, waiting patiently for some poor fish to fall into his latest trap.

Edelgard hated his stupid smug smile, and she hated his stupid smug face, and she hated that she hated him for his stupid smugness because it meant he had succeeded in getting under the future Empress’ skin. Furthermore, the sight of stupid smug Claude standing on the pier ruined her otherwise lovely view of the pond from her dormitory bedroom’s window. It ruined her morning ritual, the quiet fifteen minutes she spent with her ever faithful retainer, watching the sunrise while he brushed her hair to perfection and put in her ribbons.

She couldn’t make it four minutes before her irritation got the better of her, her composure cracking and her embarrassment flooding her face.  _ The nerve of that bloody little weasel _ , Edelgard seethed to herself, before resolving to wipe that stupid smug smile off Claude’s face and put him in his place. She reached up and caught Hubert’s wrist mid-brush and moved it away.

“... my Lady?”

“Wait here a moment,” Edelgard enunciated each word with due care lest she raise Hubert’s suspicions; an effort she knew was futile considering Hubert was suspicious about literally everything. Yet her constant companion was loyal and obedient (up until he decided it was in her best interest if he disobeyed, but that was neither here nor there).

“Of course.”

Edelgard didn’t know what she murmured to him. All she had on her mind was that stupid smug smile and the severe dressing-down Claude was about to receive. She rose and strode from the room half-dressed, hair left long, loose and flowing as she paced down the hall and then the stairs with sharp, authoritative clicks of her boot heels. Within a minute, those clicks were a sharper staccato on the cobblestones.

Others would be watching from the windows, including Hubert. Edelgard didn’t care. It would be good for the school to see someone give stupid, smug Claude Riegan the tongue lashing he deserved. She was nearing the pier now, and then she was on it; he looked over his shoulder with the dumb face that enraged her so, smiling. “Hey, Edelgaaahhh…”

The future Empress felt a dim sense of satisfaction at how the murder on her furiously blushing face wiped away Claude’s smug smile and made his words die off before he said something ridiculous. Something like, “Calm down and take it easy, yeah? Let’s talk this out.”

Something like those exact words that Claude just said. Edelgard’s agitation surged, her heart thumping loud in her ears. The words she had been stewing on died away in similar fashion, before she could even open her mouth and say them. “You little asshole,” she growled, her moment of crass spitting in the face of all her etiquette training. Claude dropped his fishing pole with a clatter and turned to her, raising his hands in a placating gesture that only made everything worse.

Once she was in spitting distance of Claude, Edelgard let her boot do the talking, her heel connecting hard with his ribs and sending him with a yelp, shout and flailing limbs into the pond. The splash of his impact was so much more satisfying than how he cringed back from her; she didn’t even mind that she’d need to change her clothes after it hit her. She glared down at the water and waited a moment for Claude’s gasping head to resurface, her jaw tight, face still red as the tights covering her long legs.

“I am  _ not _ going to say thank you,” Edelgard told the waterlogged noble, pleased with how cool and crisp her words were when she felt anything but -- and when in truth, the source of her frustration was the gratitude she felt towards Claude for his meddling. With a deliberate lift of her chin, she gave a smart turn on her heel, flipped her disorderly hair over her shoulder with one hand and began her return to Hubert. Her glare cowed several of the students watching.

It disappeared when she spotted her bemused Byleth watching from her own window, confused by what happened with her lack of context but smiling for Edelgard nonetheless. The sight of it cooled her anger and warmed her heart; she returned it sweetly without thought before thinking better of the rumors it might cause. Ducking her chin with embarassment, she hastened her stride.

“You’re welcome,” Claude half-groaned, half-called out after her as he pulled himself onto the pier. She didn’t look back.

*****-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-*****

**Seven days earlier...**

Everyone in Garreg Mach knew there was something special about Professor Byleth, and no student knew that better than the first three that had met her: Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude, the respective leaders of Black Eagle, Blue Lion and Golden Deer. Each of the future leaders went through considerable effort to win Byleth over. Ultimately, Byleth chose to preside over the Golden Deer house.

Claude, who made no secret of his conniving nature and tendency to hide plans within plans, had to admit he had no idea why she went with him. Not that he wasn’t grateful; her practicality and battle experience paired well with his schemes and contingencies, one tempering the other as needed. He loved having her around, but she was impossible to read. Her fine features were almost always devoid of expression, and when she showed emotion it was always so minute that most people overlooked it. 

Frank, forthright Dimtri accepted that decision graciously. His honor would permit him to do nothing else. Edelgard also accepted Byleth’s decision, but like Claude she was a schemer, her actions often colored by ulterior motives. Where Dimitri drifted away and turned his focus elsewhere after the new Professor chose Golden Deer, Edelgard seemed to double down on spending time with Byleth. She always seemed to find little moments where she could get close to her.

Edelgard would engage her in conversation. Praise her accomplishments. Find littler moments in those little moments where she could justify touching Byleth’s shoulder or side. Once, Claude watched her clearly go out of her way to give Byleth a napkin after Raphael’s raucous behavior resulted in an unfortunate gravy spill and a slight wardrobe malfunction.

Until that happened, Claude had thought she wanted to sway Byleth to change houses or perhaps enter the Empire’s service. When he saw the way Edelgard swallowed softly and averted her eyes when Byleth thanked her with a smile, he realized what really drove her actions. He began to understand why Edelgard had become progressively colder towards him… not that she was particularly friendly to him before Byleth’s arrival. It was jealousy.

And not just because Byleth presided over Golden Deer, but because he had ready access to the emotionally distant teacher. Claude smelled an opportunity to give himself a perfect ‘in’ with the Empire while managing to distract his House’s chief rival.

He refused to admit to himself that the thought of the two smiling together made him happy. 

*****-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-*****

**Six days earlier…**

Another thing Claude refused to admit to himself was how many of his schemes were improvised, finding opportunities where none existed and making them work through sheer charm and stubborn conniving. So it was when Byleth found Claude in the library after a mission and the two began a serious conversation about the Holy Relics. He spotted Edelguard coming down the hall and was inspired to quick action, stepping closer to his Teach and touching her shoulder companionably; a step and a turn had Byleth’s back to the entrance and Claude facing it. 

The professor tipped her head up and gave Claude a quizzical, if otherwise blank, look. He only smiled at her and carried on, though it wasn’t his usual smile; its flirtatious nature was dialled to eleven. With how he stood a head over Byleth and now loomed, it would give the approaching heir the impression Claude was making a move that Byleth might be playing into -- that he was hitting on her, maybe, or about to kiss her. 

Edelgard stopped in her tracks, her eyes widening slightly before narrowing dangerously. Claude made a show of glancing up at her and letting his smile crook into a smirk, winking at the pale-haired princess before turning his focus back down to Byleth. Poor, poor Byleth who knew and understood so little of the world outside the battlefield. Though his teacher was still confused by his manner, she eased into it well enough, assuming the best.

He  _ did _ have good intentions, and though he made another show of being put out by Edelgard’s sudden arrival and subsequent self-insertion into their conversation, he didn’t care that it forced him to back off. It was all according to plan and all flying right over Byleth’s hair, exactly the way he wanted it to. The conversation turned to secrets. Byleth’s curiosity and Edelgard’s cool ire turned their focus on him, or rather the truth of his lineage.Though he could twist it around on either of them, he instead made it part of his plan.

“Alas,” Claude bemoaned as he took a step away from the two young women, hands raising with their palms to the ceiling as he shook his head. “To be surrounded by women as lovely as flowers, only to be pricked by their thorns.” He smiled wryly in spite of his morose tone. “Perhaps another night, Teach. Princess. By your leave,” he begged the latter with a light-hearted bow just short of outright mocking, intending to prickle Edelgard.

“Of course,” Edelgard replied dryly before he straightened and swaggered off, only to round a corner and loiter. There Claude waited, able to hear the sound of their voices as they grew softer and softer. He wasn’t  _ spying _ on them  _ per se _ ; up-to-date intelligence was an important part of any successful scheme, and to that end he needed to know what the two spoke about when they were by themselves. Alone, late at night in an otherwise empty library (sans of course Tomas, who no one noticed until he chose to make himself known). 

After a few minutes, Claude could no longer hear them at all. He gave it another minute, then snuck back into the library on agile feet like some sort of devilishly handsome weasel. The two women were continuing the conversation at a table. Getting closer would be risky, but there was a free-standing bookshelf nearby that would suit his needs perfectly. Waiting until he was sure the two were completely focused on each other, he snuck over and settled in. Much to his luck the bookshelf was double-sided with no wall in its center, letting him shift a book here and a grimoire there to create a hole and let him safely observe them.

“... bothering you, Professor? He can be a bit much at times. If you’d rather not talk to him yourself, Professor Manuela could--”  _ Oh, to be painted as a villain so, _ Claude thought wryly to himself. Byleth genuinely wasn’t his type. He suspected they swung for the same team, so neither was Edelgard.

“Why would he be bothering me?” Byleth interrupted Edelgard with the slightest pinch of her eyebrows, her confusion as plain as that of a puppy in the tilt of her head. For a moment, the princess was taken aback by the answer. She watched Byleth’s cute expression just a hair too long before clearing her throat and answering. Claude took it as further evidence of his suspicions being on point. Edelgard was hot for (his) teacher.

“He’s been hitting on you, hasn’t he?”

“No,” Byleth responded, giving her head a single shake. She paused for a moment, frowning faintly at Edelgard before very gently reminding her, “Claude is focused on archery. He isn’t learning any melee weapons, and we don’t spar with arrows.”

Edelgard blinked at her, at a momentary loss for words. Byleth blinked back, her head doing that cute little puppy tilt one more time before her martially-focused mind caught on, her full lips forming a little ‘o’ that caught Edelgard’s eye. “You mean  _ romantically _ . No,” Byleth clarified. “Not at all. He’s just being himself. If it ever comes up, I’ll let him know that I’m not interested in men.” Edelgard’s picture perfect posture somehow managed to get just a little bit straighter.

“Oh. Well, that’s good,” Edelgard replied. Claude could see her hesitate over her next question, long enough that Byleth began to fill the void by explaining a gambit they had employed in their last battle. Edelgard listened raptly; though it was clear that she was paying close attention, he could tell her interest wasn’t in tactics. Not wanting to make any trouble for kindly old Tomas, Claude carefully put the books back in place.

When he spotted Hubert watching him from across the library, he froze like his mother caught him red-handed filching from the cookie jar. Of course Hubert was in the library, Edelgard was in the library. 

After a pause, he took out the book his hand had been on and flashed its cover at the much more morbid man. Smiling his winning smile, he then took off to check out the book with Tomas, only then bothering to glance down at his new reading material,  **_A Guide to the Fish of Fodlan_ ** . Well. A new hobby was a small price to pay for plausible deniability.

*****-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-*****

**Four days earlier...**

Claude hummed to himself. It was another beautiful day in Garreg Mach. The birds were chirping and the sun was shining and Claude was joined by two of his favourite friends while he waited in the monastery’s gardens. One sprawled luxuriously in his lap while the other nuzzled their head against his hand. Claude himself was sprawled on a bench. None of them were talking.

Chia and Temu weren’t very chatty. That was probably because they were cats. They didn’t bother stirring when the Cathedral’s bell began to chime. Once, twice, thrice. Three o’clock in the afternoon.

The next phase of Claude’s plan was about to begin. A third cat, Sanza, crawled up Claude’s body and clung to his shirt. He favored her with his scratches for the next five minutes, then gently coaxed her and Chia off him. He had more spying to do. After a glance around to make sure no one was watching, Claude got to his belly and crawled beneath into a hollow the amounts had dug under the hedge, though on the other side of it the foliage was just thick enough to hide him as he peered through the gaps. It was perfect. Byleth thought Edelgard invited her for tea and vice-versa.

Forgery wasn’t in Claude’s skills. Yuri was happy to do the work without questioning why he needed fake tea invitations in exchange for an exorbitant fee that left the leader of Golden Deer destitute for the coming week.  _ So worth it.  _ After a moment, he had to amend that thought.  _ This is a terrible view.  _ He could only really see their legs and shoes. Maybe he hadn’t thought this part out as much as he should have. But he could hear their conversation, at least. It wasn’t a total loss.

Their small talk was boring. The way both of them occasionally shifted in their chairs suggested  _ something  _ was happening… or that they felt itchy, or the seats weren’t that comfortable. One of those. They needed a bigger push, but what? Perhaps something with the sauna. Towels. Steal their towels?

No, that would cross a line. Claude frowned and focused, his concentration briefly broken by Chia squirming under the hedge with him and headbutting his face affectionately. “Hey, girl,” Claude murmured back fondly, reaching to scratch her. What he heard next made him freeze.

“Here, kitty,” Hubert sing-songed  _ far _ out of character, confident he was alone in the garden behind Claude. “Where did you go, kitty? Here, kitty kitty.” The future Duke went deathly still and waited. When it seemed like Hubert had given up on coaxing Chia to him, Claude squirmed out, brushed the dirt off himself and got out of the danger zone.

*****-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-*****

**Two days earlier...**

Claude found himself in the stable’s rafters, peeking over the edge of one wooden beam to watch Byleth and Edelgard return from horseback riding. All he needed to do to make that happen was make sure Edelgard saw him riding behind the professor in a lesson, his arms snug about her waist as he ‘acclimated’ to the bounce and roll of a horse beneath himself. The women were in good spirits, with Edelgard clearly hanging on to each and every one of Byleth’s words. His matchmaking scheme was working one way, that much was certain -- but Byleth’s battle-focused mind resulted in impregnable ignorance, a perfect defense to a young lady’s attention. Unaware of the way Edelgard was looking at her, she continued to explain the intricacies of a proper cavalry charge. 

As Hubert entered the stables, Claude quickly ducked his head down. The mage in training always looked  _ up _ when he entered a room. It was a ridiculous habit he unwittingly owed to Claude, who in a moment of pique last year had tried to prank Edelgard with a bucket of water balanced atop a door, primed to drench whomever opened it. He hadn’t considered the fact Hubert opened  _ every door _ for Edelgard.

It was another narrow miss. He couldn’t keep doing this. Claude needed a gambit.

One came to him.

*****-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-*****

**The night before...**

Edelgard’s undeniably lovely silhouette filled the doorway to Byleth’s office in the Golden Deer classroom. There was nothing out of the ordinary about the note requesting her visit when the bells chimed eight o’clock, but even so Edelgard felt the same butterflies that assailed her stomach whenever she had an opportunity to be alone with the quiet, stoic professor. Though Edelgard loved her steely strength, she yearned for the flashes beneath her nigh-blank exterior -- her warmth, her approval.

The princess swallowed, then lifted her hand and gently knuckled on the door. “You wished to see me, Professor?” she asked, her cool and constant composure pushing her butterflies down. 

“Yes. Come in, Edelgard.” Byleth set her quill aside and removed her glasses, setting them aside on her desk. She frowned faintly at Edelgard as the future empress came to stand before her stately desk. Edelgard frowned faintly in turn, unsure of what to make of Byleth’s ever-inscrutable expression until her head tilted just so, betraying her confusion like a puppy. As ever, it made Edelgard’s heart skip a beat.

“... Professor?” she prompted once it found its rhythm once more. They were staring at each other. Byleth sat back in her seat, her frown deepening. One moment later it faded away and her expression turned back to its usual blank slate. Just as Edelgard was about to ask more directly, the green-haired teacher broke her silence.

“Do you want me to command you?” The blunt question caught Edelgard off guard. She was suddenly keenly aware of their prolonged eye contact. That their eyes met wasn’t unusual; Neither of them shied away from it because of their (albeit vastly different) upbringings; as the future empress, it wouldn’t do for her to be intimidated in any social situation. Byleth, on the other hand, was a direct woman. She lived and died by the sword. A moment spent fretting was a moment wasted, and any moment could be her last.

There was something different. There was something in Byleth’s eyes that she hadn’t seen before, a hunger.

“I’m sorry?” Edelgard didn’t know what to make of the question. “Are you asking if I want you to teach the Black Eagles?”

Byleth shook her head, but she didn’t reply right away. After a few seconds she rose to her feet and stepped around the desk. She didn’t stop until she was right in front of Edelgard, the two standing closer than together ever before. Suddenly, the princess’ mouth felt dry, those butterflies finally breaking her composure. She swallowed softly and glanced down and away from Byleth, heat creeping up her neck and coloring her cheeks. This couldn’t be happening, could it?

The cool touch of Byleth’s fingers on her jaw shocked Edelgard into wide-eyed stillness. She didn’t dare move a muscle as Byleth tilted her face up and their eyes met again. “I’m asking if you want me to command you, Edelgard. Nothing more,” Byleth murmured. “Nothing less. Say yes or say no.” It was happening. How? Why? Though those questions begged to be asked, Edelgard could only find the breath to whisper an answer.

“Yes.” Edelgard closed her eyes as Byleth stepped into her personal space, their bodies fitting together immediately like two puzzle pieces, their lips meeting for the first time in a gentle kiss that heated slowly as though catching flame. Without thinking about her actions, Edelgard proved pliant to every one of Byleth’s actions and implied desires. As the two grew familiar with each other’s lips, the teacher picked at the student’s clothes, the pair of them moving in tandem to slide off Edelgard’s cape, jacket and blouse. Goosebumps rose over the princess’ skin with the passage of Byleth’s deft fingers. She had never stood like this with anyone before, so exposed, so vulnerable. So open. So willing. So happy. When she was intimate, she was  **always** in control.

_ Is this… happening too fast?  _ It occurred to Edelgard that if she was going to stop Byleth, she would need to stop before her bra came off. 

_ It isn’t happening fast enough.  _ She unhooked it herself and shrugged it away as Byleth broke their kiss, her rosy and aroused nipples only growing harder as the professor gazed down at them. The butterflies went wild, but they didn’t slow Edelgard now. All of a sudden, she was keenly aware of how still her fingers had been. Emboldened in her excitement, she reached for Byleth’s own blouse, to unbutton or tear it off and leave Byleth as bare as she was.

“No.” Though it was only one syllable, that single sound had more emotion in it than she’d ever heard out of Byleth before. The professor seized her wrists, surprising Edelgard once and surprising her again when she began to push Edelgard backwards. Several steps later, Byleth had her pinned with her back to the wall, bringing Edelgard’s wrists together high over her head. One of her hands shifted away, the other moving over to secure both of Edelgard’s hands. “I don’t tolerate insubordination,” she growled softly. Edelgard’s knees began to feel weak. This was well beyond anything she imagined, and now that she understood the game they played...

“Yes, ma’am,” Edelgard breathed, quiet as a mouse, tilting her head back against the wall and squeezing her eyes shut as Byleth began to trail kisses and kitten licks down the side of her neck, leaving damp trails on her clavicle. She let out a soft gasp when she felt Byleth’s warm breath on her nipple, pure anticipation chased by a gentle moan when the teacher took it into her mouth -- no,  _ her _ teacher now, Golden deer be damned.

The future empress was so used to giving orders that it never occurred to her how good it could feel to pass over control to someone else. This -- this attention, this submission -- redefined bliss for Edelgard. Her hips squirmed unconsciously as Byleth left one teased nipple to begin giving the other similarly sweet torment. After a few moments, her teacher broke away and lifted her head, face-to-face with Edelgard as she reopened her pale eyes, glassy with stoked desire. The princess whined softly, deprived of her delight, her hips stilled by Byleth pressing hers straight against them. Without Byleth’s sinful mouth and tongue addling her, she was all too aware of how the cool air tickled the path she had taken, making her shudder.

“Are you a good soldier?” Byleth whispered into Edelgard’s ear. Unable to find her voice, the princess could only nod, but that wasn’t good enough for Byleth, whose voice grew sharper. “Are you a good soldier, Edelgard von Hresvelg?” No one ever called Edelgard her full name. Edelgard, Your Highness, my Lady, but never von Hresvelg. She loved the way it sounded coming from Byleth’s sweet lips. 

She realized she was moaning. Edelgard latched on to that, swallowing thickly before answering Byleth. “Yes, ma’am.” A breath passed and in a moment of inspiration that left her feeling foolish she added, “Your best, ma’am.”

“That’s right,” Byleth murmured as she eased Edelgard’s legs apart by pressing her knee between them. The approval in her tone made her feel anything but foolish, even though she realized her face was burning so hot that she must look like an innocent virgin. Her eyes closed as Byleth took her mouth in another kiss. Now that they knew the shape and feel of each other’s lips, this one was far different than their first, soft and sweet. Her teacher sought to take control of Edelgard’s mouth; she yielded immediately to it, her tongue becoming Byleth’s obedient toy just as the rest of her body had. The princess’ quiet moans colored their kiss as Byleth’s talented fingers trailed down her body, her short nails drawing fading pink trails down Edelgard’s breasts and belly, making her shiver. 

For a moment, she found her hips squirming again as Byleth shifted off her. She missed the pressure of having her body pinned by her new lover immediately, but anticipation swallowed that feeling when she felt Byleth unbutton the shorts she wore over her tights and began to work them down. In sync again, Edelgard shifted her hips and moved her legs to help Byleth drop them, leaving them bunched around her ankles. Her gentle moaning pitched higher as her teacher’s fingers explored the shape of her damp cunt through her red tights, sending hot fire right through Edelgard’s body. 

Byleth ended the kiss again, resting her forehead against Edelgard’s. When the princess opened her eyes again, their gazes were locked, pale purple on blue. Edelgard couldn’t imagine how she looked, surely wanton and a slave to her lust, but she loved the passionate gleam she could finally see in Byleth’s eyes like this. Though she knew it wasn’t her place to speak without being addressed by her superior officer, she couldn’t stop herself from softly groaning out two words. “Please, ma’am.”

“Please what?” Byleth pressed without pause, her fingers circling just where she figured she would find Edelgard’s sweet clit. The wound-up princess lost her words at that. Her eyes clenched and she bit down hard on her bottom lip, her hips jerking as though they might spur on more attention from her teacher’s experienced digits. “Don’t make me repeat myself, soldier,” she warned Edelgard in a much lower voice. “Not unless you want to run laps like this.”

Half-naked and horny, for all of the monastery to see? If Byleth told her to, she’d do it. She’d do it without reservation, no matter who saw her, no matter how great the humiliation might be. Without regret. But it wasn’t what she wanted. Once more finding her lost voice, feeling breathless now from the panting she hadn’t realized she was doing, Edelgard begged. “Please, ma’am, don’t tease me,” she whined.

“Stay still,” Byleth murmured back, though it was a challenge for Edelgard, already so close to the precipice of pleasure from their foreplay. The sound of Byleth drawing her belt knife made her gasp and freeze far better than her teacher’s actual words had. The trust and need she felt for Byleth tempered the instinctive fear she felt when she felt the knife’s tip press against her tights, poking a hole in them that she widened with a quick cut that grazed the pale hair gracing Edelgard’s cunt. A second later Byleth tossed it aside, careless as it clattered, and widened the hole with a short rip. 

Though the tights still covered her shapely legs and she stood an inch taller in her heeled boots, Edelgard was fully bared for Byleth now. The pale skin of her inner thighs and pelvis were exposed to the open air, broken only by her flushed cunt and its pink, dewy lips. She opened her eyes again and resolved herself to hold eye contact with Byleth, even as her teacher’s hand descended on her, its heel pressing to her needy clit while two of its fingers were welcomed into her wet heat. Few had explored her like this before, and those that had were nobles -- below her in rank, certainly, but not far. Not as far as Byleth was, a mere mercenary who suddenly found herself in Garreg Mach by a twist of fate.

And here she was, highest of the high, submitting -- and succumbing quickly to the pleasure she felt. Byleth twisted her wrist as she sought out that special spot in Edelgard’s cunt, stimulating it and her clit in tandem as Edelgard’s breathing first quickened and then hitched, wound far too tight to last more than a moment. Though the princess had resolved to keep her eyes locked with Byleth’s, they began to roll upward. She was simply powerless to resist the tingle spreading through her, chased by a shiver hot on its heels. “Ma’am,” she managed to squeak out before the noise became a squeal as her orgasm finally struck. 

She cried out wordlessly as she came on Byleth’s hand, closing her eyes and pressing her head back against the wall. Her body jerked spastically, desperate to do  _ something _ . Trying to grab at Byleth was futile, her hands still pinned over her head. Her fingers had to satisfy themselves with curling into her palms, her short nails scraping against her palms when they really wanted to do the same to Byleth’s body. Byleth’s knee between hers and the dropped shorts pulled taut between her ankles prevented her from moving, though her legs still shook desperately; if not for Byleth bracing her, Edelgard would have been brought to her knees.

When it finally ended, Edelgard was left trembling in her afterglow, her breasts heaving as she sought to recover her breath. She retained enough of her wits to mourn the departure of Byleth’s graceful fingers. It came as a mild surprise to her when she felt them upon her luscious lips. Without needing instruction, she welcomed them into her mouth and laved the taste of herself off her teacher’s damp digits, opening her eyes to hazy slits as she finished sucking them clean. 

The soft smile Byleth wore for her and her only meant the world to Edelgard. A moment later, she was pleased to let her eyes drift shut again as they kissed once more, sharing the taste Byleth had coaxed from Edelgard. When it ended, Byleth released her wrists and rested her forehead against the princess’ once more. That freedom was a small blessing to Edelgard, who only now realized how tired the prolonged position left her arms; another small blessing was how Byleth took her hands and wordlessly encouraged Edelgard to wrap her arms around her hips. The two held each other in sweet silence, enjoying a tender moment where nothing mattered but the other woman.

“Thank you,” Edelgard mumbled. How? Why? She didn’t ask.

“Don’t thank me yet, soldier,” Byleth murmured back. “I’m not done grading papers.”

*****-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-*****

Knock, knock.

“Come in,” Byleth called, and a moment later Claude showed himself into her office. Smiling as always, the student leader of her House glanced around as though ensuring there were no threats. That pleased the professor greatly. With combat never far from her mind, she wanted to be sure her students were always ready; as future rulers and officers, enemies might try to assassinate them. “Did you need something, Claude?”

The future duke’s brows pinched together, his smile dampening as he did another check of the room. 

If not for a momentary distraction, Byleth likely would have picked up on that and found it suspicious. As pleased as she was by Claude’s alertness, she much preferred the pleasure brought on by Edelgard’s dancing tongue between her leanly muscled thighs, the inner part of them left damp with the princess’ saliva from the little kisses and kitten licks Byleth directed her to use on her way to the professor’s own cunt. For the last five minutes, she had been enjoying Edelgard’s wonderfully long tongue and her eager experiments.

The future empress had stopped the moment she heard Claude’s name. Byleth couldn’t blame her. It must have been a harrowing position for her to be in, tucked under Edelgard’s desk and between her legs, now nude, her ripped tights serving to bind her wrists at the small of her back. Her clothes and Byleth’s own tights and skirts served as a cushion for her knees. And while Byleth couldn’t blame her for stopping, she didn’t mean to  _ let _ her. She was close, far too close to ignore it.

“Oh, uh. I was just wondering if you saw my… day planner,” Claude hazarded. In truth, he was only there to gather information about what occurred between the two; he was sure Edelgard would have come and went by now. He expected Byleth to be acting differently, or…  _ something _ . It looked like nothing had happened at all. “The last place I saw it was in the classroom.”

He didn’t realize just how much he underestimated Byleth’s composure. “Hm.” Byleth leaned over and reached down, opening a drawer to peek inside. “No,” she said after a moment, closing it and moving her hand to her lap -- as far as Claude could tell, anyway. In truth, her fingers found the back of Edelgard’s head, curling into her hair and pushing her face right back into Byleth’s eager cunt. She loved the way Edelgard’s breath felt when she gasped against it. After a moment’s hesitation, the princess got back to work. 

None of it showed on Byleth’s face.

“Try the lost and found box?” she suggested to Claude, reaching once more for her quill. “If it doesn’t turn up, you can ask around before class tomorrow.” Before Claude had a chance to say ‘one last thing, teach’, she spoke again. “Close the door on your way out, please.”

“Sure. Sorry to intrude.” A moment later, the door clicked shut. Byleth and Edelgard would alone again, and just in time. For all her composure  _ during _ the build-up, Byleth couldn’t hide the signs of her imminent orgasm. She sighed and sank back in the seat, drawing her fingers through Edelgard’s hair as her tongue spurred her on, ultimately drawing in a sharp breath and gasping out when she reached her end. Shuddering, she unconsciously pushed the princess’ face into her as she rode out the waves of pleasure with no more sound than a soft moan. When it had all passed, she lazily curled her leg over Edelgard’s back and glanced down at her. 

The embarrassed princess was practically preening at her accomplishment. Byleth smiled down at her sedatedly, combing Edelgard’s pale blonde bangs from her brow. “You could have just told me,” she murmured. “You should never feel so embarrassed around me that you need to write your feelings and have Hubert deliver them.”

Edelgard did feel safe and happy when she was held by Byleth, even if that ‘hold’ was tight and between her legs, not arms. She smiled back dreamily and didn’t reply, content to nuzzle her thigh until something occurred to her. After several blinks, she cleared her throat gently. “I sent you a letter?”

Byleth didn’t understand her confusion, tilting her head. “Didn’t you?”

Edelgard frowned for a moment, then decided she’d sort that mystery out later. “Of course,” she murmured, before kissing Byleth again unbidden. They weren’t done grading papers.

***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***

**Ten minutes before…**

“Good morning, Hubert.” Both Edelgard and her retainer were early risers, though the former was reticent about it and  _ never _ woke up as anything less than grouchy. Their morning ritual of watching the sunrise together and Hubert brushing her hair was a way to get her ready for the day. Usually Hubert woke her up carefully, but today, she was already up when he arrived and in a surprisingly good mood to boot.

“Tell me,” Edelgard asked her loyal servant as she seated herself, “did you deliver that letter yesterday straight to Professor Byleth, as I asked?”

“The one you left in my desk? Of course, Your Highness,” ever-loyal Hubert replied. “Why do you ask?”

“No reason. I was just curious.” She hadn’t left a letter in Hubert’s desk, but  _ that _ wasn’t a conversation she was about to start with him. Insinuating someone had impersonated Edelgard and manipulated her would only serve to get him executed for murder, whether or not he found the culprit.

“Very good.”

Edelgard’s mind worked as she gazed out the window. Who would do such a thing? Who indeed? The pieces began to click into place when she glanced down and saw Claude fishing on the pier. Claude, who insinuated plots and machinations every other time he opened his mouth.

Her confusing mixture of gratitude and anger began to boil.

*****-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-*****

**And back to the present.**

Claude groaned as he rolled over on the pier, leaving the waterlogged heir to House Riegan flat on his back. It turned out Edelgard had exceptionally strong kicks. Who knew? He tried to sit up and then plummeted back down at the sharp pain he felt in his ribcage. “Ow,” he groaned. He hoped they weren’t broken. 

That  _ very _ brief exchange told him one thing, at least. His scheme had succeeded. It would be worth it if his ribs weren’t broken.

The forged love letter cost him another two weeks of his stipend; it turned out Yuri was willing to extend a ‘loan’ to his favorite client, just so Claude could put himself further in debt to the thief. The interest was reasonable. He’d work around that somehow. Claude’s gambit had worked: the quickest way to Byleth’s heart was battle analogies.

It was ridiculous. Claude laid there and stared at the sky until someone came out to check on him, trying not to laugh. The one chuckle he let himself have hurt way, way too much.

Not long thereafter, as he laid in the infirmary, Manuela confirmed his ribs were broken. At least the chocolates Edelgard sent him were delicious. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Want to get updates, support my work or contact me? You can join my Discord server here to get previews of my work: https://discord.gg/2kpsyxb
> 
> Twitter: @niteynyx  
> Email: niteynyx@gmail.com  
> Discord: nitenyx#8654


End file.
